Nantes - City Guide

The Venice of the West, Nantes sits at the river delta of the Loire,
the Sevre and Erdre Rivers, just inland from the Atlantic coast.
Originally settled by the Celts, then a major French port city, Nantes
is now young and hip with half its population under 40. The city shows
its youthful verve at Les Machines de l’Ile de Nantes, the brainchild of
two artists sparking off the imaginary worlds of Jules Verne and
Leonardo da Vinci, which opened in 2007 in the redeveloped shipbuilding
yards.

Not surprisingly then there are huge fantastic contraptions to see
and interact with including a mechanical elephant you can ride. The next
being built is the Marine Worlds Carousel and you can watch its
construction in the workshop area. If this unique project isn’t enough
to draw you to Nantes, there’s also the Museum of Jules Verne, one of
the city’s best-known sons. The Musee des Beaux-Arts has a wonderful
collection of art including Picasso, Monet and Chagall. The city’s best
castle, Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne now houses the city museum, and the
soaring cathedral took nearly 500 years to finish, from 1434 until
1891. The oldest part of the city is the Bouffay district with winding
narrow streets and medieval architecture, also Place Royale and Passage
Pommeray, a 19th-century three-tiered shopping arcade.